At one point Citgo tried to dismantle the sign but the supporters of the pulsatingbeacon wouldn't let them. "In the end, CITGO, surprised by the uproar, reached an agreement with the landmark commission and offered to refurbish the sign and relight it for three years." That was in 1983.

Many of us think of the sign as a symbol of home. And when we get drunk we use it to guide us there as we wobble from the clubs on landsdowne st.